


Have the Next Dance

by Cuppatea13



Series: The Stories of Arlie [15]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fundraiser, Interlude, Pepper skillfully deals with Tony's nonsense, party time, touch of romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-18
Updated: 2015-02-18
Packaged: 2018-03-13 15:29:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3386867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cuppatea13/pseuds/Cuppatea13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stark Industries is having a party- and investors are going to be there. As part of her own conditions for coming, Arlie insists the whole team tags along. Clint's in a monkey suit, Steve is adorably awkward, and Arlie shows him that she remembers the dance lessons. (Main story is: Reliant, this is an interlude.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Have the Next Dance

**Author's Note:**

> So I wanted a little Sterlie and this just flew out of my brain so here we are! Some romance for our favorite super soldier and hacker. :D They're just so cute. Anyways, hope you all enjoy and thanks so much for all the encouragement you guys give! Really- it's just fabulous!

**July 20th, 2012 (Steve)**

I walk off the elevator and into the common room, planning on heading straight for the kitchen for a huge lunch after my workout in the gym. However, the sight of the entire team in the room gives me a moment's pause. Arlie's lounging on the couch, her feet propped up in her brother's lap, and Natasha is curled up in a chair next to him. Bruce is standing off to the side, his lips twitching slightly in a way that betrays amusement. Come to think of it, everyone looks amused and I quickly figure out why. Tony and Pepper are standing in the middle of the room, having one of their conversations where they talk over each other and argue.

"It's a charity ball for your company, you need to come," Pepper sighs.

"Ah- actually, it's your company now, Miss CEO."

"Tony," she has a warning in her voice. "You just need five or so hours Sunday-"

The billionaire cuts her off, "Ah- see- I can't. Got a…thing on Sunday."

Pepper smirks and replies evenly, but with a hint of laughter in her voice, "Good thing it's tomorrow then."

Bruce chuckles while Tony stammers a bit before pointing accusingly at Pepper, "You did that on purpose," he admonishes.

Arlie takes this opportunity to stand up and chime in, "To be fair, Tony, she has a point. It maybe her company, but it's your name. You should put in an appearance. And it's not like you don't enjoy parties."

"I'm glad you think so, Arlie," Pepper says with a smile, "That means it'll be no trouble for you to come as well."

Arlie turns to the CEO in shock. "Wait- what?"

Pepper just smiles.

"What?" Arlie repeats, clearly realizing this has gone in a direction she hadn't intended, "Why do I have to go?" Suddenly, I'm having a vision of Arlie as a little girl, whining to a small child-like Hawkeye about how he should let her play with his bow. I'm not sure if this ever happened, but the image does give me a chuckle.

"You're head of the Technological Development Department; we've got investors there that night as well. Besides, it's not like you don't enjoy parties," Pepper parrots Arlie's words back to her.

"But, why?" she whines, "It's a stupid idea I mean it's not like-" Pepper is suddenly glaring at the brunette, causing Arlie to shift into a falsely cheery voice, "I mean, that's a great idea, Pepper. I think it's fabulous. No wonder you were made woman of the year."

Arlie spends a few minutes stammering while Pepper dashes off to a side closet.

"Here," she says, throwing a bag into Arlie's arms, "Wear this. Do your hair, make up, we can go out and make a day of it if you'd like."

"Jesus, what is in this? A ton of bricks?" Arlie asks, shuffling the plastic covered dress in her arms as she regains her voice, "And- ok- I'll go, but I won't wear this," she takes a quick look at Pepper's face and back tracks, "Unless some conditions are met."

Pepper sighs, reading to negotiate, "And those are?"

Arlie looks around quickly; then her eyes light up, "The whole team has to go," she says in a rush of breath.

"Done," Pepper replies at the same time as Barton quickly sits up straight and exclaims, "Whoa- hold your horses here, munchkin. I do  _not_  want to wear a monkey suit."

"I'm wearing a dress; tough luck."

"Arlie- I  _will_  start telling embarrassing stories," he says, standing and pointing at his little sister.

"Oh, good," Tony says, sliding onto a bar stool, "And I thought this'd be boring."

"Don't you dare," hisses Arlie at her brother, barely noting Tony's comment.

The archer turns to the room at large, "Arlie went through a phase where she sang Spice Girls nonstop whenever she was cleaning her apartment. She still does sometimes," he smirks at her.

"God, bird brain, shut up," she mutters, clearly made uncomfortable. Then, her eyes light up and she retaliates, "Clint used to take violin lessons!"

"Really?" asks Natasha, turning to look at the archer.

"Arlie was so scared after she saw Jaws the first time, she wouldn't even take a bath," he shoots back, ignoring the Russian's remark.

Arlie's mouth moves silently for a moment and her brother smirks.

"What- run out of dirt, munchkin?"

"I'm biding my time, bird brain," she huffs and glares at him before slowly starting to grin, "I have baby pictures," she sing-songs, grinning evilly.

"Wait- you do?" he asks, momentarily distracted.

She nods, "The System gave them to me when I was eighteen- didn't you go through all my boxes?"

The archer looks stunned, "I must've missed one," he murmurs.

"I've got them on my floor- wanna look?"

"There any of mom and dad?"

She nods, "I think so. I mean, it's got adults in them- I just assumed," she shuffles a little uncomfortably.

Natasha takes this moment to diffuse the suddenly very private moment the siblings are having publicly.

"You two go on and find the box, I'll bring you down some soda," she shoos them to the elevator and Arlie doesn't even seem to notice that she's carrying the dress Pepper gave her to wear tomorrow night.

"How old was she when-?" Bruce cuts himself off from asking but Natasha answers anyways.

"She was five. Clint was seven."

"Shit," Tony mutters before taking a drink.

And, really, what else can you say to that?

* * *

**July 21st, 2012**

"She'll be here in a minute," Natasha's voice breaks through my thoughts and I realize I've been scanning the room for Arlie. We're waiting in a sort of entryway for the entire group so we can all walk into the main room together. I chuckle lightly and adjust the cuffs on my suit. "She and Clint were up late last night, going through all of Arlie's stuff, so she overslept and has been running late all day."

"I- I wasn't," but the Russian cuts me off with a small smirk.

"Yes. You were." I look at the woman standing next to me. She's in a short black dress (or what I consider short- standards have changed since my day) and I idly find myself wondering how many concealed weapons she has on her. I'm fairly certain neither she nor Hawkeye go anywhere without at least five. "I promise not to tell Clint, though," she teases me. Fortunately, at this moment Bruce enters in his suit, mercifully sparing me from more teasing from the redhead.

"Well, this should be fun," he jokes and then nods at Natasha, "You look very nice."

She gives him a small smile and it's at that moment that Arlie walks into the room on her brother's arm, and I lose all semblance of coherent thought.

She's wearing a long red gown that follows her curves and then drops in a soft fall of fabric to the floor, with a dark blood-red sash across the middle, drawing my eyes to her waist. Her shoulders are bare, but falling loosely around part of each upper arm is a sort of gauzy fabric that provides a shimmering contrast to the solid red of the rest of her dress. She's got three necklaces of varying length around her throat and a gold bracelet on her wrist. Her soft brown hair, which normally she leaves down and loose, is twisted up into a high bun and her bangs are pinned to one side in order to frame her face further. With her hair up like that, you can clearly see the large gold earrings she's got on. Her lips are the same color as her dress and her blue grey eyes are a sharp contrast to all the red she's wearing, standing out even more than usual.

_Wow._

"Breathe, grandpa," comes Tony's voice from behind the brother and sister- he and Pepper have entered. His comment earns me a glare from Agent Barton, and the billionaire laughs at my expense. Natasha, mercifully, smooths things over. She glides over to the Bartons and links her arm through Hawkeye's.

"Walk me in?" she asks softly. He casts a glance at his sister from the corner of his eye and the Russian and hacker respond by rolling theirs.

"Bird brain," and the marksman receives a soft slap upside the head.

"Alright kiddies," Tony says while slapping his hands together, "Let's get this show on the road."

He and Pepper enter first, and I follow after them. After a few minutes of greeting various well-dressed people, I realize that the assassins and Bruce have hung back. I can understand for the SHIELD Agents- they were trained to only be this public when they have cover identities. Dr. Banner seems to just be awkward or shy, but suddenly, in a whirl of red, Arlie descends on him and hooks her arm through his. Within minutes, she has the Doctor talking and laughing with a small group of what I assume are other scientists. Clearly out of her depth, but enjoying herself anyways, Arlie stays by his side until, at some unknown signal, she decides he's comfortable enough for her to extract herself and leave him be.

She scans the crowd, seeing Tony and Pepper both mingling and her brother and the Russian obviously keeping each other entertained, she sends a smirk in Bruce's direction, then her eyes meet mine. One eyebrow rises in response to my stare, and I can feel myself blushing.

My shoes are suddenly very interesting.

When I look back up, I can't see her in the crowd anymore, and before I have a chance to seek Arlie out, another well-dressed patron is standing in front of me.

"Ah, Captain," he says, holding out his hand for me to shake, "It's a pleasure to meet you, really. I was hoping to talk to you about some things, actually."

"Ah, yes, of course-" I trail off, uncertain of the fellow's name.

"Right- didn't introduce myself. I'm Senator Roberts of New York."

"Right- nice to meet you, Senator."

"Now, back to the reason I started chatting you up," he gives me a phony smile, "I wanted to talk to you about New York. See, the city's been hit hard after that battle. Lots of destruction from you guys and those aliens. Buildings collapsed, pipes busted, the whole nine yards."

"Yes- I think, though, that the city's been recovering well. A lot of people are coming together-"

"Precisely," the man interrupts me, "And there's been a curious lack of involvement in clean up from…what do you call yourselves now?"

"The Avengers," climes a voice behind me, and I turn to see Arlie has come to my rescue, "They're called the Avengers," she gives the senator a saccharine smile, "I'm sorry to jump into the conversation, but I've been looking all over for Steve," she links her arm through mine, "Please, continue with whatever you were saying."

"I was just discussing with the Captain here about how extensive and, well, expensive the clean up has been, and-"

"And you were wondering why the Avengers weren't doing more?" she asks, her voice seemingly conversational, but there was a hardness underneath that I could hear, even if the senator was oblivious to it. But Arlie continues, "As I understand it, Tony Stark has donated millions to help with relief for those whose homes were destroyed, and has used the abilities of his Iron Man suit to help with a few odd jobs. Dr. Banner has been lending his add to scientific research in helping develop better materials for construction and more energy efficient ways to clean up the city. On top of all that," her voice was no longer concealing the flinty undertone, "They saved everyone's lives from not only an alien invasion, but a nuclear bomb."

"Yes, but the Avenger's war-"

She cuts him off again, "Incorrect, sir. That was not the Avenger's War. That was a war against all of humanity. The entire planet. Or did you miss the "alien" bit? The Avengers were the exterminators who cleaned up your pest problem for you. You're lucky they didn't charge. Now, I've heard a lot of talk- lots of politicians blaming the Avengers for the destruction of the city. I'd like to tell you right now sir- they didn't destroy the city. They saved it. They're rebuilding it. You, and people like you, are poisoning it."

There was silence for a few moments as the senator tried to recover, "And just who might you be?" he finally stammered out.

Arlie's back to that sickly sweet smile, "Arlie Barton, Head of Stark's Technological Development Department, and you are?"

"Senator Roberts,"

"Ah- yes, Senator. I'm familiar with your work."

"Really?"

"Yes- I voted against nearly everything you stand for. Enjoy the party," and with that, our arms still linked, she sashays away, bringing me with her.

I stared down at her.

"You are amazing," I breathe out. I suddenly realize I said that out loud and I could feel myself blushing. Arlie blushes a little as well and giggles.

"Not really, I'm just more willing to piss people off. I've got a lot of practice."

"You want to dance?" I find myself saying next. I'm starting to really wonder what happened to my verbal filter, because I can't seem to stop myself from just blurting things out around her. She, however, gives me a small smile and nods her head. "I mean," I begin to stutter a little, tripping over my words, "Dancing now is…a lot different from when I-"

She cuts me off, "How about I just follow your lead? I haven't forgotten the dance lessons you gave me."

I sigh and nod, leading her to the dance floor. Standing slightly off to the side, I wrap one arm around her waist and the other clasps with her hand as we begin to dance the way I knew how. She followed me easily, clearly she wasn't making it up when she said she hadn't forgotten the dance lessons I gave her.

Strangely enough, dancing with her finally relaxes me, and I feel the tension leave with a sigh. Arlie notices, of course, and looks up at me with a smile and a chuckle. I notice at that moment just how short she is- I mean, there is definitely a reason her brother calls her "munchkin."

"Thanks for saving me," I tell her, leaning down so she can hear me over the music.

She looks up with a smile, "You're welcome. It's no big deal- I've been waiting to let some pent-up aggression out since I was forced to put on this dress."

"You look beautiful."

"Thank you."

The song ended, and we slowly came to a stand-still, but I still held onto her waist and hand. "What now?" I ask.

Arlie shrugs and rewards me with another smile. "You can have the next dance, if you want."

I look down at her and feel my lips twitch upwards and in the back of my mind I'm hoping she's not standing close enough where she can feel how my heart skips a beat.

"I'd be honored."


End file.
